I just watched the Congressional Democrats' news conference on USAID

[Wicked Blue]

Last edited Mon Feb 3, 2025, 04:48 PM - Edit history (4)

C-SPAN cut them off as they began trying to enter the USAID building.

UPDATE: The Democrats were blocked from entering the USAID building according to BBC.


Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) led the group of members of Congress and USAID employee to the doors.

One hell of a lot of great speeches.

The gist was that they would not allow an unelected oligarch like Musk to unconstitutionally shut down USAID or other federal agencies.

Only Congress has the power to do that, the speakers said, vowing to stop what they called an illegal action.

BBC has live updates on the Democrats' remarks at https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cy08dkgej8pt

BBC: Democratic lawmakers call aid shutdown illegal
published at 13:54

We've just heard from a number of Democratic Party lawmakers. Here's a recap of some of the main points from the press conference:

Democrats pushed back at Trump's attempts to shutter the US government's main international aid department, calling the moves illegal
They also took aim at Elon Musk who appears to be leading the charge - one lawmaker called him an "unelected billionaire oligarch"
The Democrats have emphasised the agency's life-saving aid work but have also raised national security concerns and geopolitics - noting that money from USAID goes to guarding Islamic State prisoners, and that US rivals are celebrating the turmoil
The lawmakers contend that the shutdown of the agency is against the law and that changes can only be made after debate in Congress

[senseandsensibility]

1. No coverage on MSNBC

[Wicked Blue]

7. Nor on CNN live stream

There could be members of Congress being turned away by Musk's goons or even being arrested for all we know, but there's no coverage.

[newdeal2]

10. Annoying but typical

But don’t be discouraged. Share this online so it goes viral on other platforms. The evening news and others will be forced to cover it.

Have another protest tomorrow and the day after etc. more and more media will show up to see the spectacle.

[hannah]

11. Pissed off at MsNBC

That have the rat bastard on droning on and on. With freaking Rupert Murdoch sitting next to him.
Get Elon musk out of our Government Now!

[justhanginon]

23. Lets get the Hitlerian SOB out of our country or even better, off our planet!

[ananda]

21. Y'all, remember.. the media is not our friend.

But it's good to see Dems finally taking some action.

[Dem4life1234]

51. Yeah this isn't the 1972 or even 70s media

Which exposes these bastards.

[Paladin]

25. MSNBC better start covering these matters, and damned soon.

I'm not returning as a regular viewer if they fail to do so.

[msfiddlestix]

31. I'm astonished that any single DU member is a regular viewer of any of the big three including MSNBC

The Owners of Every. Single. One. of these cable news networks are IN BED with Musk, Trump, Et Al and have been for years, earlier to a lesser degree but the past year or so, they're all in.
It's been as obvious as the nose on my face, I don't understand how it has been ignored, passed over, dismissed by any of ccommon sense and intelligent DU members.
I just don't understand it.
There is only one answer to this issue and that is to completely cut the cord from their cable and streaming propaganda services.

End of Rant.

[Be Leave On]

37. Yes.

Yes. Exactly what msfiddlestix said.

[Felicita]

41. What about Rachel?

She seems to be resisting and getting out as much of the truth as possible. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I quit cable, but watch her online on msnbc sometimes.

[electric_blue68]

43. And Lawrence. Really i think Joy, Chris, Jen, too.

Last edited Tue Feb 4, 2025, 03:27 PM - Edit history (1)

The ones I consistency listen to.

Probably Ali, too?

[yorkster]

53. And Ali Velshi for sure.

[msfiddlestix]

54. Rachael's great, so is Nicole Wallace, and Laurence O'Donnell and others,

however, they are diamonds in a pool of sewage, produced and paid for by TSF and friends of the enemy of democracy, and for that reason I make a personal choice to deprive their profiting from me from clicks and views.

[hannah]

26. God

Could we please get a tv station that supports Democrats.it’s really important not to have to rely on Republican Comcast. Most msnbc are former Republican operatives.

[gypsy11]

42. This new streaming network is fantastic.

https://youtube.com/@meidastouch?si=j_9LRNfKFVRZYwpT

Highly recommend checking them out.

[Dem4life1234]

52. I love Ben!

He sure cranks those videos out!

He definitely keeps me on the loop.

[Skittles]

45. a TV stations that SUPPORTS AMERICA

THAT is what we need

[misanthrope]

27. This is why the for-profit model can't be depended on for news

Market forces steer them into lowest common denominator and sensationalism to drive profits.

[Hekate]

30. I saw something when I turned on MSNBC at least an hour ago. Clicked off when hubby walked in

I saw something when I turned on MSNBC at least an hour ago. Clicked off when hubby walked in

He’s not hostile — he just can’t take it any more. I’ll be watching Nicolle (also MSNBC) at 1:00 i.e. 45 minutes from now. I expect she’ll have more info.

Even the reliable news stations can’t be running only one trump-created crisis 24/7 — there’s just too much too fast being fire-hosed at us, which is by trump’s design.

Pick who it is you want to watch — in my case Nicolle Wallace. I have a little tv in the kitchen that I click on while I’m working in there to see if there’s anything happening with someone intelligent reporting, and click off if, for instance, it’s just Andrea Mitchell yakking. I don’t conclude that “there’s no coverage on MSNBC” based on that short interval.

[mahina]

33. what does USAID do? -Administrator Samantha Power on "America's Ground Game: How USAID is Changing and Why It Matters"

Andrea Mitchell of all people has a seat on their council. She sat with Samantha Power after her 20 minute summary of how USAID takes on poverty, hunger, illiteracy, disease and conflict around the world. Great bits on the US and Russia, which makes sense out of why trump would be interested in rooting out this agency if he is working on behalf of Russia.

[yellow dahlia]

2. I was watching, and disappointed that CSpan cut away as they were entering.

[bronxiteforever]

3. Saw it too. Representative Jim McGovern said

“I apologize to the USAID workers who have to put up with this offensive bullshit”.

Now that is good fighting.

[gab13by13]

4. It looked to me like they all got in the building.

Hope there are people there to talk to.

[elleng]

5. Excellent that my Senator VanHollen was there!

[2naSalit]

6. Coverage of Dem actions...

Not allowed. It's why we're no getting any info from them.

[orangecrush]

8. Why were they cut off

And who do we contact to express our displeasure at their doing so?

[Alice B.]

13. Joe Katz on Bluesky said they were allowed in?

But the cameras weren’t?

[orangecrush]

15. Thanks

[bigtree]

9. k&r

[DeepWinter]

12. It's not really clear

USAID is an Independant Agency that has oversight from the State Dept, but is not an intergrated part of it.(wasn't) It's funding only exists as long as congress chooses to fund it. (Roughly $50 billion/year) There is zero obligation to fund it.

As of today Marco RUbio has said it's not disbanded, but merged into the Stae Dept. So there may be some shell and pea game going on. We'll see how the next week, month play out. We're going on a lot of hearsay right now. Let the facts come out.

[BumRushDaShow]

34. Here is the law that created it (funding for it was also included in an Appropriations bill for 1962)

S. 1983 (87th): An Act to promote the foreign policy, security, and general welfare of the United States by assisting peoples of the world in their efforts toward economic and social development and internal and external security,...... and for other purposes.

It has been amended multiple times since and haven't had chance to go down the rabbithole for the details of it and the amendments.

ONLY CONGRESS can create, eliminate, or move agencies around.

You might recall when FEMA was at one time, an independent agency, but was placed under DHS just before Katrina hit and we saw the mess with that. But CONGRESS did that through H.R.5005 - Homeland Security Act of 2002 , NOT Tom Ridge (who became DHS Secretary at the time of the creation of DHS).

[FBaggins]

48. Congressional Research Service report on the topic (from yesterday)

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN12500

[BumRushDaShow]

49. I had posted some info earlier this morning on the creation history (and modification) of this

I went completely down the rabbit hole!

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3388380

[orangecrush]

14. Video at link

Democrats to be proud of.


https://www.c-span.org/program/news-conference/congressional-democrats-on-trump-admin-closing-usaid-hq/655285

[malaise]

16. Here

https://www.c-span.org/program/news-conference/congressional-democrats-on-trump-admin-closing-usaid-hq/655285

[orangecrush]

18. HA HA

Beat you by 2 minutes!

[malaise]

20. Was looking when you posted

😀

[yellowdogintexas]

17. Watching on You Tube it is a link from PBS so not sure if we are getting all of it

They are all on fire. Loving it.

[orangecrush]

19. KICK FOR EXPOSURE

Courageous.

[defacto7]

22. K&R

[chia]

24. They were blocked, according to ABC6

https://www.kaaltv.com/news/us-world-news/democrats-push-back-after-musk-says-trump-agrees-to-close-usaid-and-workers-are-kept-out/

[JustAnotherGen]

28. I just want to know

If they were able to get inside our building. Not Musks. Not the Felon's. The peoples'.

[Rendville]

29. Thank You For This Post

🙏🏽 Thank You.

[dchill]

32. So, only Elon musk's Hitler youth...

... are allowed access to the interior spaces?

[Bluetus]

35. EXCELLENT !!! I'm sorry there wasn't much coverage live, but this is what we have to do.

And there will be secondary reporting of this showing. Moreover, that gives Dems opportunities to practice the speeches and sharpen their points.

Keep hammering. This will break through, especially the point that ELECTED officials who actually have AUTHORITY over these agencies are being locked out, while an unelected jackass is inside burning the place to the ground.

[Beck23]

36. Yea!!

[Jit423]

38. Isn't it time for someone to make a citizen's arrest of Musk? Or get our military to overthrow this regime?

[malthaussen]

39. "Blocked" by whom?

Whoever is doing it is carrying out an unlawful order and should be held responsible.

-- Mal

[Blue Owl]

40. The fucking M$M is an integral part of this hostile takeover

They are there to tamp the opposition and help fat Donny fail upwards at all costs.

Fuck ABCNNBCBS and the billionaire fuckers they are serving

[mucifer]

44. Actually, there are a lot of posts about it on reddit. Yup, reddit is spreading the word more than

the major news outlets.

[JDAcme]

46. It wouldn't hurt

to always mention that USAID is a legacy of the Kennedy administration. Regardless of how odious the electorate seems these days, I believe there is still a reservoir of affection for JFK. The tie to Kennedy also establishes how long the program has been in place. It’s almost a tug on our heartstrings to recall a better time.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

47. 😱

😱😱😱

[LPBBEAR]

50. Well I'm happy

to see the Democrats taking some action, any action, there are much bigger fish to fry here than USAID. By choosing to go after this issue rather than the much bigger issues of the illegality of Musk running around like a madman destroying the functioning of our government they're missing the more important domestic issues. With the Democrats spending their energies on USAID they've given the Repukes the chance to publicly point at the Democrats and say something along the lines of "See, all the Democrats care about is aid to foreigners".

I agree this is an issue but keep your eye on the ball Democrats. Focus on the bigger legal domestic issues Trump and Musk are involved in. There's PLENTY there to fight about and they are issues more important to the average American citizen.